Your voice, our shared insights
More than 1,200 nonprofit professionals from 75 countries shared how they plan, support and lead change in their organizations. Their voices create the first global picture of what change really looks like in the nonprofit world today: where it succeeds, where it struggles and what can help it work better.
1,235
Completed responses
75
Countries represented
58
Questions
8
Themed segments
Where the voices came from
The survey reached nonprofit professionals across six continents, reflecting the diversity of missions, sizes and operating contexts. Our appreciation goes to the many individuals, networks and partners who contributed their experience and helped share the survey around the world, ensuring a truly global and representative picture of change in the nonprofit sector.
Watch the overview video
A three-minute summary of the State of Change Management in the Nonprofit Sector 2025: what the study explored, who took part and what the data reveal about change in nonprofits worldwide. It highlights patterns from across regions, sizes and roles, offering a first glimpse into the insights that shaped the report’s key recommendations.
Evidence, not assumptions
Nonprofits manage transformation under unique conditions: mission-driven, resource-constrained and people-dependent. This research examines how they actually do it: who leads change, what drives it and what helps it succeed.
What the data reveal
Eight connected segments reveal how change is led, managed and experienced across the nonprofit world:
- About you – Respondent role and experience in supporting change
- About your organization – Size, focus areas and operating context
- What change looks like right now – Drivers, responses and challenges
- Who shapes change – Leadership, teams and decision-making dynamics
- How change is managed – Planning, tools and processes
- How people are supported – Staff wellbeing, communication and engagement
- How change is measured and learned from – Metrics, sustainability and reflection
- Reflection and advice – Your insights on what works
Turning patterns into practical guidance
Each recommendation distils a tested lesson from the survey: what to focus on when resources are limited and how to balance ambition with realism. Developed together with the Advisory Board, they highlight how effective change in nonprofits should always be practical, pragmatic and proportional.
What comes next?
The State of Change Management in the Nonprofit Sector is designed to grow over time. The next phase in November 2025 will share a practical playbook that translates findings into tools and templates for everyday change work. Further deep dives will explore themes such as leadership support, capacity checks and learning practices in more detail – roughly every other month.
Together, these resources will continue building an evidence base for effective, people-centred change across the nonprofit world.
If you have any questions about the survey, feel free to get in touch with the research team by email: survey@stateofchangemanagement.org